Hockety Pockety
by Vibranch
Summary: Rinoa always seemed like an outgoing young woman. So Merlin was surprised she had so much trouble with a spell that requires its user to sing and dance. Leon always seemed like a quiet uncaring guy. So Rinoa was surprised when he spoke up and said something nice. AKA: The no doubt long awaited origin story to Leon's leather jacket.


No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

* * *

Merlin sipped his tea as he considered how to best explain where his student was going wrong. "My dear, you have to _sing_ the words, not just mumble them like an out of tune frog."

Rinoa huffed an exasperated breath at the wizard. "I will not! I'm going to look like a loon." Rinoa could feel her face growing hot as she considered what Merlin wanted her to do.

* * *

Long ago before she knew of other worlds, Rinoa used to sit on her mother's lap and watched the stars as her mother sang to her. Despite her mother's crippling shyness, she had written and publicly preformed a song about how she felt when Rinoa had looked at her as a baby.

Rinoa loved that song even before she'd even learned to speak. As a baby, Rinoa would mimic the sounds of the song her mother would always sing to her.

And when she'd gotten a old enough to speak, Rinoa would shamelessly sing along with her mother. "Loud and proud," was how her father would describe her singing.

"Loud and Proud," Rinoa would shout right back, taking pride in her father's words of encouragement, not feeling any of the shyness of being heard that her mother felt.

Those days felt long ago now.

_Very long ago._

Now that she was older, Rinoa sometimes worried that she hadn't inherited her mother's singing voice. Occasionally, while watching the stars alone, Rinoa would sing to herself the same song her mother once sang.

"Darling, so there you are. With that look on your face. As if you're never hurt, as if you're never down."

It hurt to say the words and know that her mother would never sing them to her again, or that her father would never be around to describe her singing as loud and proud either.

But she was glad that it still hurt.

It hurt, but only because she was reminded that she was loved, that there had once been happier, better days before the Heartless entered her life and destroyed her world.

* * *

"My mom was a singer, you know." Rinoa looked to Merlin. "I always thought she was better at it than me, but… Do I really sound like a frog? I don't think I'm that bad."

Merlin placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, my dear. Don't worry you don't sound like a frog, haven't you listened to them croak? They have wonderfully deep baritone voices."

"Oh, so I'm not even as good as a frog." Rinoa said sadly as she looked at the floor.

Merlin coughed into his hand as he considered his next words more carefully. "Ah, now Rinoa, don't feel too disheartened. I know you can perform the spell. You just don't understand the proper form to it. Here, copy after me." Merlin hopped onto the stool Rinoa once stood on in the middle of the room.

"You've already shown it to me, I'm just not going to get it."

"Ah ah ah!" Merlin tutted. "Watch me now." He slumped his shoulders and began to chant slow and nervously, "Hockety… Pockety… Wockety…"

Rinoa raised an eyebrow as nothing changed. "I don't understand."

"I'm preforming it as you were." Merlin answered. "Maybe a bit exaggerated, but my point stands. You've got to be less self-conscious. When it comes to spells, they can almost feel your indecisiveness and can go very wrong if you don't cast them with gusto."

"With gusto?" Rinoa repeated, arching an eyebrow as she did so.

"Precisely!"

None of this made sense to Rinoa. This was supposed to be a magic and spells lesson, not a singing and dance class. Confidence had always been key when it came to learning new spells, but she never had to dance and sing like an idiot for a spell before.

"Now watch me." Merlin cleared throat and scanned the room carefully.

A moment later he jumped into the air and danced on the stool. Not caring about how he looked. Which was good. Graceless didn't even describe as Rinoa watched in horror.

_He wants me to do __**that**__?_

"Hockety Pockety, Wockety Wack!"

Objects throughout the room began to float through the air. As he continued his song and dance, dishes and furniture began to shrink in size and float gently into an open bag of holding he'd laid out.

"There now," Merlin announced as he finished the spell. "Just do it exactly like that."

"I am not doing that!" Rinoa said.

"If you don't, you'll never master it." Merlin chimed.

"But if I do, someone is going to walk through that door and see me dancing and singing like a crazy person! I just know it!"

Merlin waved a hand at Rinoa. "Oh poppycock, you worry too much. Just relax and have fun with it. Magic _should_ be fun, so long as you use it responsibly."

Stepping gingerly onto Merlin's Stool, Rinoa believed she understood why her mother had always struggled to publicly perform her songs in front of an audience now.

"Go on!" Merlin cheered. He knew she had it in her to perform the spell. There was a great source of magical potential within her, and he couldn't wait to see her soar!

"Hockety… Pockety…" Rinoa slowly began. She felt the sense of unease and shame build within her. "Loud and proud, loud and proud." Rinoa repeated under her breath.

"Is everything alright?" Merlin asked. Perhaps he should have thought of a different spell to teach her instead. He didn't think she'd have so much trouble with it. She normally seemed so outgoing and extroverted everywhere else.

"Hockety Pockety!" Rinoa yelled at the top of her lungs. She took a peek at the curtain that served as Merlin's door, looking for any sign of outside movement. "Wockety Wack! Abra Abra, Dabra Nack!" Rinoa kicked her legs out and began to dance on the stool just as Merlin had.

* * *

Merlin watched with pride as the spell worked its magic. Objects lifted gently off the shelf and bobbed in orbit around her. Each time they drooped down, they rose back up a size smaller than before.

Rinoa couldn't believe it, it was working! She continued to sing the song, with only slight interruptions coming from a laugh that would bubble out of her throat. She spun a couple of times, letting herself become lost in the moment.

"Keep going, keep going!" Merlin encouraged. A request Rinoa happy to oblige.

So caught up in the moment, Rinoa didn't notice the sound of someone moving aside Merlin's curtain and stepping inside.

"Merlin, can I use your…"

Rinoa's eyes shot open. She was frozen in place, looking directly at Leon.

_Not again…_ Rinoa thought to herself.

"I, uh, I can come back later." Leon said embarrassedly, as if he'd been the one they walked in on."

Rinoa covered her face with her hands as it began to heat up, unintentionally casting an aero spell that lifted Leon off his feet and threw him somewhere outside. Rinoa hadn't even noticed that she'd cast the spell until she heard something splash into the lake outside Merlin's house. Cracking open an eye, she saw Leon wasn't in the room anymore.

* * *

Leon stepped on to the grassy shore of the lake, trying not to think about the condition his leather jacket was going to be in once it had time to dry. The soggy, muddy grass he stepped on gave way as he put his full weight onto it, causing Leon to tumble back into the water.

"Umm, do you need a hand?"

Leon sat up from the water to see two brown eyes staring at him with a mix of concern and amusement.

"I'm fine." Leon replied curtly, trying to grab hold of something solid to help pull himself back up. A piece of muddy embankment came lose, pulling grass out by its roots as he fell back in the water.

Rinoa stretched out with her hand towards Leon. "It's alright I won't blow you away again."

Sighing with resignation, Leon reached back for the girl's hand.

"Sorry, about that…" Rinoa rubbed the tip of her boot on the ground as she tried to find a better way to apologize.

"…Whatever" Leon replied.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Rinoa waited for Leon to continue. He looked uncomfortable to her. She wondered if she made him uncomfortable, or if it was just because he was soaked.

_Probably because he's soaked_, she decided.

If he wasn't going to break the silence, Rinoa decided she would. "Did you need to speak with Merlin?"

"No, it can wait. You go ahead and finish your lesson and I'll come back later." Leon said.

"Oh, well I'm finished now." Rinoa dug circles in the ground with her boot. "Merlin said I pretty much had the spell figured out, so I'm done now."

"If you say so." Leon said as he squelched towards the entrance.

Rinoa winced as she saw the condition of his leather jacket. It was completely soaked, and it would only get further damaged as it dried.

"Oh, by the way," Leon said just before entering Merlin's House. "You sounded good. Sorry if I bothered you again."

* * *

Rinoa walked home, considering Leon's words. That was the second time he'd walked in on her singing.

The first time he'd heard her, she was singing quietly to herself as she watched the stars. Just as she'd done with her mother years ago. She hadn't even noticed he was there until he'd said anything.

"He's too quiet!" Rinoa yelled. With no one walking the streets at this time of night she could give into the little temptation to be a bit loud.

But even back then he wasn't rude or anything.

* * *

"That's a nice song." Leon's voice cut through the cold night air like a knife.

Rinoa jumped back in surprise. "Sorry, I thought I was alone… How long have you been there?"

"Not long," Squall admitted. "I was just on my way to see Merlin. He has an entrance to the water way."

"What do you do down there?" Rinoa asked. She didn't often talk with Leon. In fact, he didn't often talk to anyone. She'd really only seen him say short sentences to Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid. Nothing that could really be considered a conversation. Just enough words answer a question they had or the bare minimum to politely respond to something they said.

Rinoa was almost certain she had a closer relationship with Aerith and Yuffie than Leon did, maybe even Cid. But the little that he did talk with them was more than he ever said to anyone else.

"I go there to be alone." Leon answered.

Rinoa scrunched her eyebrows together as she tried to understand his answer. "You go there to be alone? But you're always alone." Rinoa suddenly realized that what she said was rude before she could stop herself.

"…Whatever," Leon responded. He didn't know why she cared what he did there. At least when he was there no one bothered him. Sometimes just being secluded was all he wanted. Still, he felt compelled to tell Rinoa more. "Gunblades can be dangerous around others so it's safest to make sure I practice somewhere others won't accidentally sneak up on me and get hurt."

"Wow, I didn't realize you were so considerate of others." Rinoa said only a little sarcastically. "Is it really that dangerous of a weapon?"

Leon considered explaining how the recoil from pulling the triggering mechanism adds a lot of recoil. How one time when he was younger, he pulled the trigger and shot out of his hands and landed somewhere behind him.

And even though he was used to its recoil now, his old instructor back home had drilled into his head that 'the worst always arrives with an audience', and an audience could get hurt if it ever flew out of his hands again.

But instead of explaining any of that, Leon just replied with a curt and succinct "Yeah."

"How kind of you." Rinoa said, again only slightly sarcastically. She realized she was probably sounding kind of rude again. "Sorry, I guess I was expecting you to say more. I know we don't talk much, but you never seem to have anything to say."

Leon sighed. Cid and Aerith were always asking if he was okay, and despite constantly telling them he was, they never seemed to believe him. Even Yuffie, who was more oblivious about how much he wanted to be left alone, was constantly questioning every little noise and sound he made. Rinoa seemed to be the same as them, and yet for some reason, he found he didn't mind as much.

"Leon, are you alright?" Rinoa asked. He'd been silent for a while now, so she said with innocent intent. Despite that, the question annoyed Leon.

"I should go." Leon announced before Rinoa could ask another question. But her words, 'you never seem to have anything to say,' rattled in his head. For some reason he wanted to prove her wrong. "I liked the song, by the way. Sorry if I bothered you and made you stop. It sounded nice." Leon walked off before Rinoa could say another word.

For some reason, when Merlin told her that he had a new spell to teach her, and that it required the user to sing a song to do it, Rinoa thought of that night with Leon again. She felt a little more confident in her singing voice since that night and decided to attempt the song.

* * *

Rinoa felt so stupid as she laid down on her bed. Leon had nothing bad to say to her, and what had she done? She sent him flying into a lake. No doubt ruining his jacket permanently.

Maybe she could think of a way to apologize for blasting him into a lake. Just saying sorry didn't seem right. But what else could she do?

She had once considered adding a leather jacket to her everyday outfit, but this was back before Leon and the others came to Traverse Town. But she found it to be a little too _Hell's Angel_ looking for her taste. Almost literally with the red angel wings embroidered into the back of it. She liked the angel wing motif, but not even that could save it for her. Now it just hung in her closet, never to be worn again.

_Maybe that could make a good replacement for the one she ruined…_

Of course, once she'd pulled it out of the closet, she saw it definitely wasn't going to fit. It would be way too tight on him. It's not like she'd memorized his body size, but still. Something told her Leon probably wouldn't fit in a women's size. The short sleeves alone would cut off the circulation in his arms, if his arms even fit through it.

Then she got an idea.

It was probably stupid idea. But she couldn't get it out of her head.

Loud and proud.

She recanted the words to the song Merlin had taught her, changing the lyrics slightly.

* * *

The sound of a pulled trigger immediately followed by the sound of a firing mechanism echoed through the cavern. The smell of gunpowder wafted in the air mixing with the smells of wet stone and still water.

Leon smiled, or the closest thing he would allow to a smile. He felt at peace. No one was around to remind him of his old home or the people he couldn't save. How he ran away, how chose to save himself, how he should have stayed and fought till the bitter end.

_Oh,_

_There goes that smile. _

_Good._

What right did he have to be happy? Every time Cid, or Aerith, or even little Yuffie, asked him if he was alright, they wouldn't quite believe him when he said he was.

They didn't understand that he was alright and that was the problem. He was alright and so many others weren't. Why should he be alright? It wasn't fair to everyone he failed if he just moved on and forgot them.

Sometimes Leon thought his favorite part of the water way was just how alien it was to home. It was completely different to anything he would find in Radiant Garden.

But in moments like these, not even that fact could help. Maybe it was because there was one last reminder of home hidden even in here. A warp gummi that Cid had placed behind a mural that laid on the wall beyond a section of deep water.

Cid trusted Leon enough not to take the warp gummi hidden in this place. That or he knew.

Knew that Leon was scared to go back. Scared to watch his own Heart flutter out of his chest, lose his mind, and become a Heartless. Just like everyone he couldn't save.

Maybe

Maybe it was time to change that. He could be fearless, like a lion. Unafraid to take on the endless horde of Heartless that were no doubt still ravaging his home.

All he'd have to do was wade into the deep water that separated him from the mural that housed the warp gummi he needed.

His leather jacket was already ruined from water damage, so it's not like that weak excuse was still there to stop him.

Leon stood at the edge of the water as the thought lingered in his mind.

Was he really going to do it? Return to that Hollow Bastion and fight until he hoped he could feel redeemed?

"Uhh," A voice interrupted his thoughts. It came from by the stairs that lead back to Merlin's house. "Sorry, am I interrupting?"

Rinoa tiptoed into the water way, taking in the soft green glow of the room.

Leon looked at her skeptically. "No, I was…" He looked back at the mural the warp gummi was in. "Just taking a break."

"From your Gunblade practice?" She swung both arms exaggeratedly together, mimicking what she thought a Gunblade swing looked like.

"Yeah," Leon kept his voice even. What was she doing here? He told her he liked to come here to be alone, right?

Rinoa walked further in but stopped as she saw the cracked remains of Leon's leather jacket. "I'm sorry about your jacket. I didn't mean to get it wet."

"…Whatever." Leon said, but he felt like he should be thanking her. Now that it was gone, it was just one less obstacle to stop him from marching into the water, taking the warp gummi, and taking off for home again. Then whatever happens, happens.

"You say that a lot. Is it a nervous tick or something? Do you get nervous around girls?"

"N-No." Why was she asking him something like that? A question like that is like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leon could feel himself getting hotter, but he didn't have anything to be embarrassed about!

Rinoa took a slight pleasure at seeing him look flustered. It was a nice change from his usual, or more like constant, stoic demeanor. "Well, it's not 'whatever' to me. I feel bad about it." Rinoa paused for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice rose with excitement. "Which is why I got you something."

Leon watched as she ran back towards the stairs. If Rinoa had looked back she would have remarked that he looked like a cat, tilting his head in confusion.

Rinoa came running back holding a black leather jacket of her own. "Here! It's a replacement for the one I ruined.

Leon examined the gift. Red angle wings on the back? Not really his style. But it was high quality and looked comfortable.

C'mon, try it on, try it on!" she cheered.

Leon sighed as he put it on. He tried to make the process look tiring, but if he was being honest, he was a little excited too.

Rinoa was nervous as he slipped both arms into the sleeves. She made a small inaudible gasp as she realized her mistake. She hadn't made it long enough!

Unlike his old one, this new jacket only reached as far as, maybe, the middle of his stomach. She hung her head in defeat. She cursed herself for not noticing the issue sooner.

"Thank you. I like it."

Rinoa's head shot up. He was twisting and turning, trying to check himself out in it as best he could without a mirror. And was there some actual emotion in his voice as he said it too?

Leon liked how the sleeves ended at his biceps. The nights in Traverse Town never got as cold as back home, so he could see himself being much more comfortable wearing this new one. And while he liked the fake fur collar from his old one, it had been an uncomfortable reminder of his old life as of late.

Rinoa watched in fascination as he moved around in the women's jacket she'd enlarged. "You know?" Rinoa said, interrupting Leon from further investigating how he looked. She gazed into the water Leon had earlier been standing near. "I just realized I walked in on you practicing. I guess that means it's your turn to push me into the water now, huh?"

"I'm not going to do that."

Rinoa couldn't help but smile. Did he think she was serious? Rinoa couldn't tell. Even he couldn't be that literal, but he said it so seriously. "I was just joking, Leon."

Leon was quiet for a moment. "… So was I."

"You were _not!_" Rinoa laughed. When she finally looked up at him he had that flustered look again. Like a cat that had been caught looking foolish. She recollected herself and figured she should stop teasing him. "Sorry, I can go now if I'm bothering you."

"You're not." Leon spoke faster than he meant to. Unlike most people, he didn't mind her being around. There was something about Rinoa's presence that he didn't want to lose.

"I thought you said it could be dangerous being near someone practicing a Gunblade."

"Well… Maybe not that dangerous. Besides, I think I'm done now anyway."

"Then, if you're done practicing, what did you want to do?"

"We could talk, I guess. I haven't really gotten to know many people here yet." Leon admitted.

"Yeah, I guess we could." Rinoa had some doubts about Leon as a conversationalist. He was so quiet and untalkative that she half wanted to joke that she was surprised he even knew how to talk. But she figured that would just make him angry.

"I kind of want to know more about that one song you were singing." Leon spoke, taking charge of a conversation for once.

"O-Oh, you mean Hockety Pockety?"

"No, the other one you were singing. When I was on my way to Merlin's the first time."

"Oh, you mean 'Eyes on Me'. My mother actually wrote it."

Leon tilted his head. "Really? That's impressive."

"Yeah, she was really talented. I can't sing it as well as her, but I still do sometimes when I'm alone."

"You sounded fine to me."

"Oh, thank you." Rinoa didn't know why she felt so embarrassed to receive such a simple compliment.

Rinoa thought about the song 'Eyes on Me' some more. When she looked back, she found Leon's gaze firmly planted on her.

_His eyes are on me._

It was just word association, but as soon as she made the thought, she felt something twist in her gut.

Rinoa suddenly felt the need to think about something else. She muttered the words to Hockety Pockety, hoping the lyrics would get her mind off of whatever she definitely was _not_ thinking of.

"Rinoa, are you-" Leon stopped when he felt something move on his arm. He looked at it but didn't see anything different.

Wait a minute… Was his sleeve larger now?

No, that would be impossible. Probably just his imagination.

* * *

Leon had long since forgotten about taking the warp gummi and flying back to Hollow Bastion. The desire to make one last stand on his home had evaporated over the course of the night. Slowly the idea had faded when Rinoa presented the gifted jacket.

They talked for a long time. About lost homes and adjusting to Traverse Town. Leon talked about his Gunblade training and why it could be dangerous. Rinoa talked about Dogs and caring for them. Leon didn't know she cared so much about dogs. Rinoa admitted that on multiple occasions she'd asked Merlin to conjure up a fountain or a statue in the third district for the two dogs she'd been caring for.

Leon hadn't even realized he'd forgotten about taking the warp gummi when he finally went to bed. In fact, it would be a long time before Leon would remember his idea to return to his home for one last fight. But by that time, he couldn't see a point to fighting an obviously hopeless battle.

After all, he had a right to be happy and to make something new for himself. He could see a little bit clearer that his life hadn't been a waste.

* * *

AN: Thank you for reading to the end of this! This story is mostly ideas that I've had tumbling around in my head while writing another Squall/Rinoa story called Time Enclosed Within. That story is a bit darker and has had Leon and Rinoa separated for a while now. So I wanted to prove to myself I could write something less angsty and more fluffy. This story still got a little angsty in places but I think it served a purpose.

There wasn't a lot of planning to this story, just that I've had this idea of Leon/Squall walking in on Rinoa doing the Hockety Pockety dance from the Sword in the Stone movie, and explaining why Leon/Squall has the angel wings motif on his jacket in Kingdom Hearts.  
My original thought was that Rinoa would have bought a jacket without telling Leon and so when they meet up one day they'd be wearing matching outfits. Making the jacket that Leon wears being in remembrance of Rinoa after whatever happens to her in Kingdom Hearts.  
I thought it was kinda funny, until it got sad. But I still like the idea that during both games Leon is wearing a woman's jacket and now I can explain why he fits her jacket too.

Anyway feel free to let me know if you liked it and what you thought.


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